After Dark
by animezealot196
Summary: A very late entry for the Misa-kumi One-shot Challenge. "It is usually out of our comfort zones that we learn the most important things about ourselves." My Genre was Horror and the word Orange. I did NOT do a pretty good job in compiling them. Enjoy!


It was late.

It was very late.

And it was very dark.

Now, Misaki Ayuzawa was not the kind of woman to be scared easily. Her daring nature was one of the qualities she was most prideful of. It was the same bravery and determination that allowed her to triumph over her school's male domination and keep her family healthy and surviving. It would not fail her now. No, absolutely not.

She unconsciously gulped.

This day had started as normal as possible. The Cultural Festival was just a few weeks away and she was, (naturally) the committee Head. That presented her with more workload than normal, but Misaki was not complaining. Her friends had suggested not taking on the extra duties; but that would have meant giving the position to a male representative, and Misaki was not ready to take such risks.

That is why she was here, late in the evening, filling out forms and completing the brunt of the work which would usually have taken the whole week. Misaki could not afford that, since she had full shifts at Maid Latte in that time. Thus, being the efficient and determined President she was, she worked alone on her desk in the Student Council room as it emptied, the corridors grew quiet, the last teacher left the building and the janitor gave her the keys to lock up before leaving.

This was almost her usual routine. Nothing to be unnerved about.

But what was not her usual routine was the sudden, complete darkness that surrounded her. She had been setting her papers into neat piles on her desk when the lights in the room had simultaneously gone out. It had been accompanied by something like the diminishing roar of a machine, before resulting in complete silence. The lights above her head had been sparking for a while, but she had decided to leave the matter till she had gotten the more important work done.

Staring into the pitch black nothingness in-front of her, Misaki Ayuzawa decided she did not regret anything more.

 _Get a grip!_

Misaki gulped again.

 _It's just darkness….absence of light…..It doesn't mean everything else isn't how it was….Move!_

She took a deep breath. The voice inside her head has always been absolutely correct. Tightening her grip on the keys Misaki turned and moved towards where she knew the door to be. With swift, but cautious steps she stomped towards it; trying to make as much as noise as possible to fill in the creepy silence. The hand she had held out in-front of her suddenly jarred against wood and after running shaky hands on the smooth surface a little she found the cool metal doorknob.

She gripped it and turned. There was an ominous click and the slab of wood gave way.

Relief rushed through her body as air hit her face. She had managed to exit the Student Council room. Her heart beat thundered in her ears; knees still feeling a little wobbly; but the pride of accomplishment was dominating in her.

 _Good. I can do this._

She pushed the door all the way to make sure anything hiding behind it would be effectively obtruded. No loud thud or unearthly wail came however and Misaki gulped in relief. She stepped out, the loud tapping of her shoes greatly reassuring. She closed her eyes and tried to picture the corridor as it always looked like. Behind her, the council room door suddenly shut with a forbidding bang.

Misaki froze.

 _It's alright…that door is always like that…remember this morning? It slammed in Yukimura's face and he dropped all the boxes..._

She felt her face muscles relax a little. Of course, it was a swinging door. She had promised Yukimura to have it changed as soon as possible. That had meant she was not going to think about it till tomorrow.

Her teeth clenched. She had a lot priority sorting to do once she gets out of here.

Taking a deep breath, she turned right and stomped towards the direction of the stairs; or where she knew the stairs to be present; a hand energetically swinging in the air in-front of her so she would not slam head-first into a pillar. The windows were dark; even the moon had abandoned Misaki tonight.

 _Skrr skrrr_

Misaki froze. Again. With one foot hanging in the air and arm stilled in mid-swing she tried to gauge the source of the ominous scraping. Her breathing seemed to stop and the scraping seemed to get louder the more she listened; but she could not discern where it was coming for. Perhaps that was because of the immense terror she was feeling.

 _SKRR SKRRR_

The noise was becoming more violent and her heart was threatening to break out of her chest. Her thought processes were in the midst of clouding over when she realized that the scuttling was coming from above. Slowly, with images of a giant, bloody claw raised at her in her mind; Misaki tilted her head up, even though she could not see the ceiling.

There was a squeak and something dropped on the floor, whooshing past her face.

Misaki yelped and scrambled back. A clank of metal keys and a round of squeaks resounded in her ears; followed by the scuttling moving around her and then growing fainter until vanishing entirely. The President only barely registered this, given her thundering heart and trembling legs. It was a huge effort just to stay upright and Misaki felt tears prickle the edge of her eyes.

 _I do not want to be here…._

She tried to avert her thoughts from the horror by thinking of a logical reason for the current events. As she remembered the terrified squeaking and scuttling, realization clicked in once again.

 _Rats_!

 _Yes, Sakura was talking about them roaming in the vents yesterday…..I was too worried about the supplies that time, so I ignored the problem…._

Misaki gulped. Her predicament forgotten as a twinge of guilt ran through her. She had been too occupied in her own work and decisions that she had been automatically side-lining the suggestions of everyone else.

That's not how a Student Council President behaves….

The dark-haired girl grimaced in shame. There were some serious changes she had to make tomorrow.

 _If only I make it till then…_

She shuffled towards the general direction of the stairs once more, still terrified but determined to make her way outside. The image of the landing flashed in her mind and she felt side-ways with her hands to find the cool metal of the balustrade. She flinched at first, but then gripped it tightly. Yes, just down from here and out the front door. Then you just have to cross the courtyard. There's bound to be some working streetlamp, once outside.

 _Just a little more…_

Setting her jaw in determination, she put her other hand out to grasp at the railing and deliberately put one foot down. It settled on the first stair. Brilliant. She followed with the other one and managed to stay upright. Feeling full of pride, she shuffled in this manner through the first set of stairs to the small landing without any heart-stopping hitches.

She was sliding both of her hands down the railing when she realized.

 _The keys!_

Misaki's heart came up to her throat; clogging it. Her lips twitched in despair as it dawned on her that she had also forgotten to lock the Council room. The tears on the edge of her eyes, threatened to spill again; dread and loneliness gripped at her heart.

 _Ugh….._

 _I wish someone else was here…._

The face of a certain green-eyed blond flashed in her mind and Misaki felt comforted. Then it changed to shock and her cheeks began to heat. Images of their last encounter began to run inside her mind and the sense of shame that had been plaguing her the whole night; re-surfaced.

He had been loitering around on her desk as usual this afternoon. But being as engrossed as she was in completing her work; she had typically tried to ignore him. But ignoring him, as much as she hated to admit it, has never come easy. So she ended up shouting at him until he left the room.

And as much as she hated to admit it, she wished he had not gone.

She wished he was here.

 _I am going to apologize to him tomorrow…_

With such ambitions and a heavy heart, Misaki moved back the way she had come. The feeling of dread was still there; but it was masked by a sense of obligation. She could not give up now, when there was so much she had to do.

When her feet slammed on to the tiles of the second floor, she took a deep breath and turned to the direction of the Student Council room. Her nerves were steadily failing her, so she closed her eyes completely and tried to imagine herself walking through that same corridor, but fully lit. This helped her ignore the deathly silence surrounding her.

Shaking fingers held the key and slid it around the smooth wood of the council door, until she found the groove beneath the knob she was looking for. Pushing it in with more aggressiveness than necessary and missing a few times; Misaki managed the click the door close. Her heart thrummed wildly in her chest, feeling eyes on her and imagining something dark and forbidding standing just behind her; poised for attack.

She whipped around, swinging the keys in-front of her like a sword to cut any apparition that was stalking her. But she found only air… and darkness.

A headache was building in her temple. She rubbed her eyes and fore-head and wished she could go and wash her face, or drink some water…or have some light….. _or have him by her side…._

Something nagged at the back of her head at this thought. Misaki squinted in the darkness; trying to figure it out: when she heard it.

 _CREAAAAKK_

The President of Seika High was already sprinting in the opposite direction when the ominous screech was followed by footsteps: Footsteps that were not hers. They were steadily approaching from towards the stairs; blocking her only escape and growing nearer and louder. The thing following her had sensed her fear; and it did not want to let her get away.

A loud cry tore from Misaki's throat as she sensed the super-natural follower break into a run. Behind her, the ghost let out a horrifying wail; as if it was just about to attack. Straining her muscles and flailing her limbs, Misaki raced forward with all her might; only caring for getting as far as possible from her un-dead pursuer.

She scarcely noticed when her foot caught in something and she was sent crashing into a wall.

Then the wall gave way against her and Misaki was falling, tumbling into what seemed rough paper. Thuds and thumps of various kinds followed, and some soft, round objects bumped her on the head before rolling down and away. The foot-steps of her pursuer came to an abrupt halt behind her. Misaki tried to get up, but a ton of those heavy things seemed to be on top of her, effectively trapping her.

She turned her head, with wide, fearful eyes and immediately squinted. From the little chip of space above her that was not blocked, there came the fluorescent glow of a ghost; almost blinding after the complete darkness. She scrabbled uselessly against the rough surface of her barriers when the light moved closer. Panic engulfed her until her heart almost stopped.

There was a thump and shove and the weight above her was removed. Cold air rushed in.

"NOOOOO! DON'T TAKE MY SOUL PLEASE!"

She covered her head with her arms in a futile attempt to shield herself from the attacking burst of ectoplasm; eyes squeezed shut, her body trembling from head to toe.

"Ayuzawa?"

The fluorescent glow was brighter now; Misaki could sense it from beneath her eyelids. The ghost seemed to be able to talk. Moreover, it was talking in an extremely familiar voice.

"Ayuzawa, are you okay?"

Misaki cracked an eye open. She saw the source of the ethereal glow first; it was a dot situated a little sideways from her face, behind it was a slim black block held in what suspiciously looked like a human hand. And behind that human hand, Misaki caught the outline of a familiar face and emerald-green eyes, shining with concern.

As realization dawned, both of her eyes wrenched open. She stared at her apparent 'ghost' with an open mouth.

"Usui?" she croaked after what seemed like an eternity of gazing.

 _Usui….._

He blinked. Misaki found her hand making its way to his cheek, just trying to make sure that he was indeed real. Surprise flared in his eyes the moment she made contact, but he did not attempt to move; instead he simply gazed in wonder as Misaki closed her eyes and sighed in relief. His cheek was warm, thrumming with life. Usui was here. Not some rabid un-dead creature.

"I am so happy it's you…" she murmured.

Something like a groan emanated from the boy in front of her, but Misaki's mind was clouding over. The exhaustion caused by anxiety was finally catching up and she felt herself drifting off, into the friendly and comforting darkness inside her mind, a blushing face and a pair of shining green eyes flashing above her consciousness.

…

Misaki woke up to blinding light. She pressed her eyes close immediately and rubbed them; sitting up and trying to collect her bearings. Her hand landed on something soft and round, pushing against it until it rolled away. Misaki blinked as she took in the ripe orange beside her. Her eyes followed its trail, to find a multitude of oranges scattered around her on the dirty floor; along with some upturned card-board boxes and their spilled contents.

"…..Oranges?"

"Oh, Misa-chan, you're awake." A male voice called.

She whipped around to see Usui Takumi sitting hunched on his knees beside the open door of the storage room, holding a half-peeled orange in his hand and looking at her with amused eyes.

The President felt heat rush to her cheeks at his unrelenting stare. Recollections of the night's events rushed through her mind and her face burned.

"WH-What?!" she stammered, trying to avoid his eyes.

"Nothing." He replied, a playful smirk already on his lips, "Want one, Misa-chan?" he said, handing out a piece of the citrus fruit.

"No!" she spat out in indignation. Hurriedly she scrambled up to her feet, slipping on oranges and knocking cardboard boxes alike. "I-I need to clean this mess up."

Usui chewed a little on his orange in thought before he pulled himself to his feet.

"Al-right." He said, and began picking up the stray, round fruits. Misaki opened her mouth to argue with him that it was her mess and she should handle it alone, but closed it without saying anything. Silently they worked until the store-room was restored to what it looked like before her disastrous entry. Misaki did not want to admit it, but with the two of them working together; it took less than no time.

She bit her lip and snatched a look at him. His eyes were trained directly at her.

A shiver ran through her body.

"W-We should be getting home. Its late." She announced, before stalking out of the room without turning to him.

She found the keys lying abandoned on the tiled floor, where she must have thrown them while making her frantic escape. She turned them in her hand; observing the glinting metal under the light and hoping there had been no permanent damage. Then her brow suddenly furrowed as a new realization dawned on her.

"Hey," she said, turning to Usui who had been following her, "how did the power come back on?"

"Oh," he shrugged, tilting his head in nonchalance, "Nothing to it, really…I just unplugged the oranges I was experimenting with from the main circuit…"

Misaki blinked.

"The oranges you were experimenting on….?" She repeated in a low voice.

"Yea…I was alone and bored after Misa-chan kicked me out so I took some connecting wires out of the lab…"

"…and you decided to tamper with the school's main circuit…" her face was growing more and more shadowed.

"Exactly….But it got a little weird, there were some sparks, but I didn't think much of it until I heard you scream, Misa-chan."

"So…" Misaki's fists clenched, "…..this-this _blackout_ was _your_ doing?"

He brought a hand up to scratch his head.

"I suppose you could say that."

"UUUUU-SU-IIIIIIIIIII!"

….

 ** _Haha…she forgot her phone and backpack in the locked Council room in her panic._** ** _J_** ****

 ** _Classic, Misa-chan._**

 ** _P.S I simply cannot write horror._**

 ** _P.P.S I HAVE FAILED YOU SAKKIM-SAN T_T_**

 ** _Hope you enjoyed._**

 ** _PLEASE FAVOURITE IF YOU LIKED IT. I NEED THOSE VOTES._**

 ** _RXR!_**


End file.
